M. Night Shyamalanis the biggest name attached toServant, the new thriller premiering on Apple TV+ this Thanksgiving.
But to hear him tell it, the real name to pay attention to inServantis onetimeHarry PotterstarRupert Grint.
Grint plays Julian Pearce, the brother of Dorothy Turner (Lauren Ambrose).
Apple TV+
I was sent one scene, and it was very out of context.
I had no idea what was going on.
It was two guys having this intense conversation about a doll, Grint tells EW.
There was just something very intriguing about this story.
I loved the language, the dialogue was great.
And, it was just this incredible surreal, deeply upsetting subject matter.
One wayServantmanages to unsettle the viewer is by doing extreme close-ups where you wouldnt expect them.
(On the drinking, Grint says: Theyre both quite hedonistic, particularly Julian.
Hes all about seeking different kinds of pleasure.
Theres pot or other substances or theres always some sort of drink.
You question, can we fully trust these people?)
When Sean cooks, the camera zooms in on the disgusting violence of skinning an eel.
We were always reinventing it, thinking about it from a different way.
Sometimes Night would have these notes too, but they would sound so obscure, Grint says.
And weirdly that made so much sense, in a way.
Then theres Jericho,Baby Yodas dark opposite if ever there was one.
Grint says they even came up with a nickname for it.
But looking into its eyes is just pure hell, he says.
We sort of see babies with a purity, but seeing them in this context is very scary.
I found it very stressful being near it.
So we nicknamed it Scary Jerry.
It was this amazing object, but its quite scary.
